Omental pregnancy is a very rare form of ectopic pregnancy which could be diagnosed only through surgical probe. Recently, a case of omental pregnancy was diagnosed and successfully treated at the Caritas Hospital in Kottayam.
Omental pregnancy is the implantation of a fertilized ovum outside the uterus or womb such as in one of the fallopian tubes.
A mother of two, who hails from Kanjirapally, was admitted on 6th November with severe abdominal pain and low blood pressure. Scanning revealed that she had a small cyst in her ovaries and also fluid build up in the abdomen.
As the hemoglobin rate was alarmingly low and her blood pressure dropped rapidly, the patient was shifted to the operation theatre for an emergency laparoscopic procedure. The uterus, ovaries and the fallopian tubes were normal. However, about two litres of blood was found accumulated near the intestine. A bleeding site was then found near the omentum. The doctors immediately controlled the bleeding by extracting the friable mass. The omentum was taken for further tests and investigation. Ectopic pregnancy was confirmed in one of these tests.
Only 16 cases of omental pregnancies have been reported between 1958 and 2012 in the world. If not diagnosed in the early stages, the chances of death of the patient are significantly high. A team of doctors led by senior gynecologist Dr Reji, surgeon Dr Binto Mathew and anesthetist Dr Sadasivan had treated the patient.
